APPLICATION OF SHIELDED LOW-PASS CABLES IN HV

SUBSTATIONS

M. Kirschvink*, Kabelwerk Eupen AG, Belgium

J. Hoeffelman, Laborelec, Belgium
J. Gorablenkow, Siemens AG, Germany

1. Introduction

During operation of switchgear in high voltage

substations travelling waves on the bus bar are at the
origin of VFT (very fast transient voltages) with short
rise time. In GIS (Gas-Insulated Substation) the rise
time of VFT is about 5 ns and dominant frequencies
ranging from some MHz up to several tens of MHz have
frequently been measured. Even in conventional AIS
(Air Insulated Substations) rise time of 30 ns have been
reported.
Due to the operational function and the design of VT
and CT (voltage- and current transformer) for
measurement and protection purpose, VFT occur at their
secondary terminals mainly in common mode (voltage
between line and ground). Various modifications have
been made in the past years in order to reduce the
coupling of VFT to the secondary windings of VT and
CT. But due to technical and economic limitations, the
level of VFT at the secondary terminal of VT and CT
remains high during switchgear operation.
Although the immunity requirements of utilities are
normally set quite high [5], [6], it is a matter of fact,
with the introduction of modern computerised
equipment which are not always dedicated to the high
level EMC environment of substations, that there is a
need to enhance this environment whenever possible
*Malmedyer Straße 9, B – 4700 Eupen
Figure 1
2. Coupling of voltage transients to secondary
circuits
The signals appearing at the secondary of the voltage
and current transformers (Figure 1) propagate towards
the relay or control room between phase and neutral in
differential mode (DM). They can however strongly
been affected by the VFT overvoltages appearing in
common mode (CM) between phases (+ neutral) and
ground due to the asymmetry of the circuits. These
VFT's are transferred from the primary to the secondary
of the VT's and CT's by different ways.
2.1. Inductive-conductive coupling
Part of the coupling is due to the HF inrush current I
flowing via the primary winding to the earth net
(Figure 2).
This inrush current is responsible of a both a transient
ground potential rise (TGPR) and a transient induced
electromagnetic force (IEMF) affecting the secondary
circuit [1].
In other words, a longitudinal voltage UL will appear
between both ends of each secondary circuit. This
longitudinal voltage is the sum of a scalar component Us
(the TGPR) and a vectorial component Uv (the IEMF)
which is path dependent.
It is very difficult in practice to separate those two
components or to say which one is dominant. It has
been shown however, for lightning phenomena, that
both components are of the same order of magnitude
[2].
For safety reasons, the secondary circuit is normally
grounded at the HV equipment (Figure 1); hence, in
absence of any other attenuation, UL will appear in
common mode at the other end of the secondary circuit.
However, thanks to the existence of a shielding (screen)
around the cable, the resulting CM voltage UI at the far
end of the circuit is multiplied by a factor equal to the
shielding factor k of the cable:
UI = k UL = k (Us + Uv)
Ztl
In this expression: k=
ZG
with Z t : the transfer impedance of the cable, ZG : the
impedance of the cable with ground return and l : the
length of the circuit.
This shows the importance of the transfer impedance of
the cable for reducing the inductive / conductive
coupling.
Figure 2
2.2. Capacitive coupling
Another part of the coupling is due to the capacitance C
that exists between the primary and the secondary
windings of the transformers (Figure 2).
This capacitance is also responsible of an important CM
voltage UC1 which can normally not be reduced by the
shielding factor of the cable.
The resulting CM voltage UC2 at the far end will in fact
depend on the attenuation characteristics of the cable :
UC2 = UC1 e -al
(with a the attenuation factor of the
cable)
3. Mitigation methods for reducing the coupling
As stated above, the resulting CM voltage U2 appearing
at the far end of the secondary circuits (i.e. in the relay
room) is the sum of the inductive / conductive coupling
UI and the capacitive coupling UC2:
U2 = UI + UC2
3.1. Use of special cabling
In order to mitigate UI it is important to pay a great
attention to the ground connections and to make use of a
cable shielding with a very low transfer impedance in
all the frequency spectrum of the disturbances, i.e. up to
about 100 MHz.
The second term UC2 can only be reduced by the use of
cables with important HF attenuation characteristics.
This is achieved in a low-pass cable thanks to the use of
a special ferrite layer described in section 4.1.
It is worth mentioning also that the attenuation
characteristics of such a cable are not only valid in
common mode but also in differential mode, i.e. when
the interference is already added to the signal.
3.2. Cabling versus filtering
The use of RFI filters installed either on the HV
equipment either in the relay room after the input
transformer have sometimes been recommended. This
solution has several drawbacks compared with the use
of low-pass cables:
Contrary to LP cables filters are local interference
barriers which can always be by-passed.
If filters are installed on the HV equipment they need to
withstand the HV level present at the secondary of the
VT's and CT's. Moreover they need a very good cabling
in order to avoid cross-talk between input and output.
If they are installed in the relay room it means that the
mitigation method is applied after the disturbances
(currents or voltages) have reached the room where the
sensitive equipments are installed; and this can never be
an advisable solution.
4. The Low Pass cable
4.1. Description of the cable
Figure 3 shows the different components of a LP cable:
- stranded copper conductor : the cross-section
ranges from 2.5 to 25 mm_
- HF absorptive layer:
a ferrite-powder filled polymer
- insulation
- assembled conductors
- first shielding: an aluminium-polyester foil
- second shielding: a copper braid optimized in the
point of view of its transfer impedance
- outer sheath
The dielectric test voltage is 4 kVac -1 min.
 Low Pass Cable circuits. Figures 6a and 6b show the results; they can be
summarised as follows:
Cable passe-bas
screen Applied voltage : 3.3 Vp at 10 MHz
écran

insulation Conventional cable :

isolation Output peak voltage = 4.0 V
outer sheath
Transmission time : 1.2 µs/20 m or v = 166.6 m/µs
conductor gaine extérieure LP cable :
conducteur aluminium foil Output peak voltage = 1.0 V
feuille aluminium Transmission time : 2.65 µs/20 m or v = 72.7 m/µs

ferrite powder loaded material

matériau chargé de poudre de
ferrite

Figure 3 U1 ZL U2

10 Ohm
The HF absorptive layer is a ferrite powder filled
thermo-plastic elastomer (TPE). The compound is filled
with more than 90 % in weight of ferrite powder with a
specially selected grain size. The HF absorption is Figure 5
mainly due to the magnetic losses in the ferrite powder;
the HF energy is therefore converted into heat. The
attenuation increases steadily with the frequency and is
obviously proportional to the cable length [7].

4.2. Attenuation characteristics (frequency domain)

In comparison with conventional cables LP cables show
an important attenuation at high frequencies, as it is
shown in figure 4.

Common Mode Attenuation

dB/10 m
60
Cable

50
U1 Z U2

40

30

20

10

0
1 10 100

f / MHz

Figure 4

The ferrite layer is saturation safe: Measurements at 1.5

times the nominal 50 Hz-current with a superimposed
HF signal show that the HF attenuation is not affected
by the 50 Hz current.[8]

4.3. Time domain behaviour

In order to demonstrate the cable behaviour in the time
domain, a 10 MHz damped sine-wave has been applied
in a common mode configuration (see figure 5) to a 20
m cable sample; a conventional cable is compared to the
LP cable, both cables being terminated by a Figure 6 a
100 V/5.2 V transformer as used in protection input-
 Transfer Impedance
LiMY(ST)CY 4 x 2.5 mm?

0,01

Transfer Impedance
0,001

Ohm / m
0,0001

1E-5

0,01 0,1 1 10 100

Frequency / MHz

Figure 7

At frequencies above 30 MHz, the low-pass behaviour

pushes the transfer impedance down to lower values.
This effect is highlighted in figure 8 where a
comparative Zt measurement is shown for a
conventional coaxial cable RG 213 and of a low-pass
coaxial cable of same diameter and same shielding. The
difference becomes obvious at frequencies above 30
MHz.

Comparison of Zt : RG 213 versus LP/RG 213

1,0E+0

1,0E-1
Transfer Impedance
Ohm / m

1,0E-2

1,0E-3

Figure 6 b
1,0E-4

1,0E-5
The advantages of the LP cable are clearly 0,01 0,1 1 10 100 1000

demonstrated: Frequency / MHz

RG 213 LP/RG 213
- the damped sine-wave is strongly attenuated
- the peak voltage is dramatically reduced
Figure 8
The pictures show also that with the conventional cable
the source waveform is affected by the load conditions.
5. Measurement on GIS
4.4. Transfer impedance Zt
The following sections deal with measurements of the
The LP cable is equipped with a double shielding:
level of transient overvoltages (TOV's) appearing at the
- an aluminium-polyester foil and
secondaries CT’s in different situations.
- an optimised copper braid.
By using appropriate shielding measures, the TOV's are
A shielding based on this two elements presents a low
limited to an acceptable level; each CT manufacturer
transfer impedance and a high current carrying capacity.
applies his own shielding principle and experience.
The braid has a so called “optimised” construction,
where the braiding angle and the optical coverage are
5.1. Measurement on a 420 kV GIS-section [10]
chosen in such a way, that the transfer impedance runs
The test set-up is shown on figure 9 a. The HV-
over a minimum value of approximately one tenth of the
excitation is done by a unit voltage step U = 1 pu by
DC-resistance at a frequency of about 1 MHz (Figure 7)
closing a SF6-disconnector switch. The primary and
[9] .
secondary voltages are measured by means of a 100
MHz bandwidth oscilloscope. The dimensions of the
SF6-section and the local capacities and inductances
determine the level and the frequencies of the TOV's on
the primary side, which are then transmitted by the
specific transfer function of the VT or CT to the
secondary side.

Figure 10 a Figure 10 b

6. Conclusion
Figure 9 a
Thanks to its attenuation characteristics and its low
transfer impedance, the LP cable reduces both the
inductive/conductive and the capacitive coupled
transient overvoltages. The immunity to HF
disturbances of all secondary equipments is increased
without impairing the dielectric strength of the circuits.

7. References

[1] Guide on EMC in Power Plants and

Substations
Cigre WG 36-04 - Publication 124 – December
1997

[2] Transient voltages coupling to shielded cables

Figure 9 b connected to large substation earthing systems
due to lightning
L. Grecv
The CM primary and secondary voltages are shown on CIGRE Session 1996, paper 36-201
fig. 9 b for a CT equipping the GIS-section. In this
case, the shielding performance of the measurement [3] The effect of high frequency transient regimes
transformer is quite excellent and the TOV's are on secondary equipment in GAS substations
maintained to very low levels. P. Clarence, G. Ebersohl, J. Vigreux, G. Voisin
- CIGRE SC 36
Electra n° 126 – October 1989
5.2. Measurement on a 123 kV GIS
In this case, the CT is not provided with a very efficient [4] Earthing of GIS – An application guide
shielding; the TOV's are therefore reduced by J. Lewis – CIGRE WG 23.10
connecting the load through a 25 m long LP cable. Electra n° 151 – December 1993
Figure 10 a shows the CM TOV directly at the terminals
of the CT; where a 1.5 kV peak voltage is measured; the [5] Automation and Control Apparatus for
frequency of the oscillating transient is approx. 27 MHz. Generating Stations and Substations
Figure 10 b shows the voltage on the load, the peak EMC Immunity Requirements
voltage is reduced to 63 V, corresponding to an UNIPEDE Normspec 230.05 Ren 9523
attenuation of 27 dB. This value is in good accordance
with the attenuation measurement given in figure 4, [6] Immunity for power station and substation
where, for 25 m and 27 MHz, the corresponding environments
attenuation is 25 dB. Electromagnetic Compatibility – Part 6-5:
Generic standards
draft IEC 61000-6-5 (77/215/CD – 12-03-
1999)
[7] Verkabelung und Filterung
H.Garbe , D.Hansen.
Elektromagnetische Verträglichkeit,
Grundlagen, Analysen, Maßnahmen
B.G.Teubner Stuttgart 1992, ISBN 3-519-
06144-9

[8] RF Absorptive Cables

L. Halbach, M.Kirschvink.
ITEM 1991, The International Journal of EMC

[9] Optimal Cable Screening Braids Determined

by a Computer-Aided Statistical Planning
Method
M.Kirschvink, P.Vroomen.
1994 IEEE International Symposium On
Electromagnetic Compatibility, Chicago.

[ 10 ] Gesichtspunkte für die Auslegung und

Errichtung einer 420 kV-SF6-Anlage
C.Neumann, J.Gorablenkow, G.Feindt.
Elektrizitätswirtschaft, Jg 94 (1995) Heft 17